The Stray Editing Menace

To end the year on a light note here is a funny quote with an unfortunate typing error and unusual collective pronoun from a largely uninteresting article in the Pakistan Observer about the stray dog problem in Islamabad:

“The roaming herds of gods have sparked a heightened harassment amongst the residents of area”.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Stray Dogs and Rats in Jammu

Here is a news report about the current problem of a rodent invasion that is making life miserable for the citizens of Jammu in Kashmir. They are also inevitably still struggling with a “stray dog menace” which is continually increasing with no end in sight. The rats have apparently “invaded every lane and drain and are causing nuisance to the inhabitants besides damaging the foundations of the buildings".

The real problem here seems to be the fact that nowhere in the report is there any hint of a suggestion about why there are so many rats and dogs in the city. If people really see the problem as the animals themselves then they will never find a solution and the unwanted animals will always be there causing a nuisance.

There are no specific details to be certain here but the chances are that, just like in many other Indian cities, poor waste disposal is the underlying problem supporting high dog and rat populations. That is what needs tackling far more than the animals themselves.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Not All Dogs Come From Breeds

An article (here) about a vet who did some voluntary work for the Soi Dog Foundation in Thailand and then took two rescued street dogs back home to the USA with her interested me for a what on face-value may seem a trifling issue. The article describes the dogs as “basenji mixes”. 

The basenji is a primitive type dog from west Africa similar in many ways to other primitive dogs such as the New Guinea singing dog and the dingo. Although best known as a wilderness dog from Australia, the dingo actually originates from south-east Asia where it can still be found living as it always has done as the archetypal village dog with a very close relationship to people but it invariably gets overlook and dismissed as a mere stray. The number of pure dingoes in south-east Asia is declining thanks to interbreeding with the influx of domestic dogs but they can still be spotted quite easily by anyone interested enough to look.

When people see stray dogs such as the two in this article they always try to fit them into known “breeds” but (fortunately) dingo isn’t a recognised breed so these dogs were labelled with whatever seemed closest. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these two dogs are actually dingo mixes, thousands of which are already running around Thailand’s streets, rather than basenji mixes from west Africa (and I can say that without even seeing the dogs!). The reason for the wrong label is that we do not recognise the fact that many dogs around the world come from blood lines outside of the classified breeds. We arrogantly assume all dogs come from our breeds but it’s time to appreciate the independent dogs, like dingoes, who have not had their breeding directed by us. To my mind this would be a giant step towards appreciating free-living dogs as an acceptable part of our world.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Stray Dog Follows Cyclist in Ukraine

Here is an interesting experience with a stray dog that a man on a bicycle tour had in Ukraine (see blog here). A young dog started following him and did so for a total of 50km over two days without him ever feeding it. As the cyclist explains, it was a big dilemma for him as giving it food would have encouraged it to keep tagging along, which would have been difficult over a 1,700km international tour with several border crossings, but not helping it beyond providing shelter from the rain at night was a difficult choice to make. (A contrasting story to the one (see here) where a stray dog followed Chinese cyclists over a similar distance to Tibet and ended up as their pet – in that case they did feed it).

I don’t pretend to be able to explain the dog’s behaviour but ideas of abandonment of an unwanted puppy spring to mind. The video is particularly interesting to me for showing some of the dog’s natural behaviour such as being silent except when the cyclist got too far ahead and creeping off to the side of the road to hide whenever he stopped. Again, I'm not going to try to interpret why it was like this but I think we can learn a lot about dogs' innate behaviour by looking beyond pets.

He eventually managed to shake it off and (optimistically) hoped it managed to fend for itself.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Let India’s Independent Dogs Live

Citizen Matters website based in Bangalore has posted a heart-felt plea to leave “independent dogs” in India alone following a court judgement that allows for the extermination of dogs deemed a “menace” or “nuisance” without defining quite what these terms mean. This judgement effectively allows the authorities and complainants to make their own definitions and thereby gives a powerful tool to those wishing to see dog-free streets. This problem was flagged by analysis of the court judgement by the Voice of Stray Dogs voluntary organisation (see detail here).

The article makes many good points about the situation and history of free-roaming dogs in India, for example, about the unsolved garbage situation being such a large part of the problem and the fact that we only ever hear one side of the story when a dog bites but in many cases it may well have been a defensive reaction following provocation.

In discussing the role of these dogs as communal security alerts, which is usually taken to mean helping to protect property from human intruders, they add a new slant with the question, “At a time when attacks [by men] on the elderly and single women are increasing, should the city authorities be going after independent dogs?”. Too many people are far too quick to call street dogs a menace without seeing the safety they provide through their alertness.

This is the first time I have seen the word “independent” used to describe dogs that most people would call “stray”. I agree with the article’s author that it is a much better description, as for the most part these animals are exactly where they belong and not at all stray. My feeling is that “stray” should only be used for abandoned pets or pet dogs on the loose, and that we should recognise independence as a perfectly legitimate lifestyle for dogs in many countries. I also like another relatively new term, “community dogs”, as a way of describing the relationship between many free-ranging dogs and people but this perhaps puts a slightly different emphasis on their role by implying (communal) ownership. I hope the tag of independent dogs spreads as it is not only a good description but also hints at respect and acceptance.

As this article about Bangalore says, independent dogs are part of the city’s soul.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Shift in Attitude to Adopting Stray Dogs?

Here is an interesting article partly about the efforts of one particular woman to help Delhi’s desi dogs (stray or street dogs) in India. She is part of a network of people including security guards who form what they call the “anti anti-desi dog brigade” to counter the vocal efforts of those who say the dogs are a menace. The dogs’ defenders argue that “human interaction makes the dogs less aggressive, and easier to take in for sterilization”. This is exactly my feeling that good-natured interaction between people and unowned dogs produces good-natured dogs whilst aggression from us breeds aggression from them.

The other part of the article that I found interesting was the section on adoption. Apparently, in Delhi, “Stray dogs are gaining acceptability as house pets” particularly with the younger generation and now there is even a website to encourage and facilitate international adoption of Indian desi dogs which has arranged over 900 overseas adoptions.

My two concerns with this trend are that it will inevitably mean that village dogs that are unowned but actually living very good lives will get adopted unnecessarily and there is a danger that the desi dog ends up getting hijacked as a dog “breed” with breed standards and associated snobbery attached. The desi dogs undoubtedly include abandoned pets but their most striking feature to me is the lack of direct human control. Becoming a breed would take that away.

However, I’m also taking a more optimistic view that this adoption trend could be a small but significant step in getting westerners to accept unowned street dogs in other parts of the world. At present it is acceptance through adoption but that is an improvement on “pariah” and perhaps the interest and need to select which dogs to adopt will result in people taking a closer look at the actual lives that these dogs are leading, which could lead to questioning the need to save or deal with them all.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Pet Dog Stabbing in Thailand Highlights Confused Attitude

Last month an angry German expat in the seaside town of Pattaya in Thailand stabbed a Golden Retriever to death. The frenzied attack apparently occurred as a consequence of the aggressive Retriever being allowed by its indifferent owners to wander freely and become a regular nuisance in the neighborhood including repeated attacks on the German’s pet Rottweiler as he took it for walks. Understandably, the story has stirred emotions with animal rights campaigners now protesting outside the German’s house (more details here).

There are plenty of discussions elsewhere about the incident and what led up to it but the relevant point I wish to make here is how confused people are between pet dogs and street dogs. The report linked to above includes the advice that foreigners just have to get used to the local tradition of people allowing their dogs to roam freely, but the Thai tradition is actually not to own dogs at all. The idea of keeping pet dogs is a largely imported, modern concept with the more traditional relationship being “village dogs” that wander around communities receiving some food and care from the human residents but not actually being owned. This makes a vital difference in the way dogs behave. As I have discussed before, dogs socialised to people (i.e. pets) are generally much more aggressive than dogs that are familiar with people but not actually socialised to them (e.g. village dogs) but seeing street dogs wandering around makes pet owners think it’s okay to allow their pet dogs to do the same. It’s not, it’s irresponsible and dangerous.

Of course, this is no way excuses the German man’s actions but Thai society needs to understand that there were reasons that led to his violent outburst and that pet dogs need to be kept under control even though street dogs are wandering around freely. They are not the same animal.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Not All Stray Dogs Appreciate Being Saved

A couple from Maryland “rescued” an Egyptian street dog that they fell for and had it transported back to the USA for a new life as their pet. Unfortunately, the dog was clearly traumatised by the 18-hour journey and all the unknown sights, sounds and smells so it bolted as soon as it got the chance at the airport. He is still on the loose and the couple are still looking for him (full report here).

I am sure that given the chance this couple could provide the dog with a healthy and well-loved life but I always question whether such dogs are really better off being rescued. There is undoubtedly a chance that any street dog in Egypt or many other countries could meet an unpleasant fate or live a harsh and short life but it is wrong to assume that this will be the case particularly where the dog has lived all its life on the streets and already reached adulthood. It’s hard to be sure exactly how a dog sees their world but many street dogs I come across are apparently living very good lives with adequate food, companionship (both canine and human) and the freedom to define their own activities (which in my opinion should not be undervalued). To such animals the trauma of an international rescue must be significant.

Having said that, I am not criticising this couple who tried to help a stray dog who had charmed them, and the chances are that the dog will be found and they will be able to make amends. I hope so.

The other reason I was interested in this story was because it contains the ubiquitous assumption that all dogs, whatever they look like, must have come from a mixture of known breeds. Apparently, the western belief is that every dog on the planet can be nicely categorised as a breed or a combination of breeds. I find this a little arrogant as it ignores the fact that millions of village and street dogs around the world have never been through the breed mill – they come from lines that have ALWAYS lived as village dogs. Call them generic, call them pariahs, call them mongrels if you want (which is true for many thanks to our careless pet-keeping) but please accept that they exist as an entity outside the directly human-controlled dog breeds. This particular dog has been labelled a German Shepherd-Labrador mix, which is possible but to me it looks far more like an age-old village dog with a touch of escaped pet.

Putting these two strongly-ingrained assumptions together (that all street dogs need saving and that all dogs are breeds or the product of breeds) makes me realise how much work there is to do to get the message across that neither are true on a worldwide scale.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Stray Dogs Learning to Drive

As shown in the above video clip, New Zealand’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has trained 3 rescued stray dogs to drive a car with the aim of encouraging adoption by proving “how intelligent they are”.

As a publicity stunt it certainly works, being exactly the type of story that the media love (at the time of writing, the clip already had well over 2 million views on YouTube). What saddens me is that the SPCA had to pander to our humanising view of dogs in order to get their point across. There is surely already no lack of evidence to illustrate that dogs have great and useful talents and that being a stray or mongrel in no way diminishes this fact. A careful look at the dogs’ “driving” actually shows just how limited it is and how unsuited the animals are to the task. They are totally reliant on the handler’s repeated commands and use very few actions. Undoubtedly an achievement for both trainer and dog but this is far from the independent driving that some claim and the best that can be said for it is that they keep well within the speed limit.

On the other hand the real world is increasingly full of examples of how dogs (yes, even strays and mongrels!) can perform an amazing variety of helpful tasks from guiding the visually-impaired and somehow being able to predict seizures in people to search-and-rescue to locating truffles and even helping researchers find killer whale faeces! Dogs are ready, able and very willing to be helpful, it just needs the effort to train them and the imagination to realise what they can do.

I like the fact that the SPCA are trying to promote adoption of strays and mongrels, which I see as necessary to counter all the propaganda we have been fed by breed societies over the years, but I do feel a little ashamed for the general public that it has to be done this way.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Not Solving the Indian Stray Dog Problem (Again)

Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that authorities with a role in solving the stray dog problem in India have little chance of making much headway because they simply do not understand the problem. This story in The Times of India relates how the Law Department in Thiruvananthapuram “has come up with a solution to end the stray dog menace in the state” by the “setting up of kennel habitats in all cities to rehabilitate stray dogs”.

Perhaps the report unfairly represents the Department’s simplistic view but the suggestion is an apparent commitment to house (all?) stray dogs in kennels for perhaps 4-5 years each. Apart from the logistical and financial problems of such an idea, the main sticking point is that it does not actually address the reasons why there are so many street dogs in the first place. Waste management is always a big problem in Indian cities which means that edible rubbish is readily available to support the dogs and that if the dogs are removed they will be replaced with rotting garbage or a rat population explosion. Coupled with this is the fact that many of the dogs are not born on the street but are abandoned pets or unsold puppies dumped by unscrupulous breeders, which means that the task of clearing the streets of strays would never actually end.

It may seem counter-intuitive but the best way to solve the stray dog problem in India is not to target the stray dogs themselves but rather the pet dog industry plus find a more efficient waste management system. If this is ever done they will probably find that the few remaining street dogs are not actually a problem and can comfortably live as part of the community as they have been doing for thousands of years.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Incomplete High Court Guidance on Bangalore’s Stray Dogs?

A High Court in Bangalore has issued clear directions to reduce the stray dog “menace” in the city. The report I read (here) does not include full details but basically the following two quotes seem to cover two key elements:

“…the nuisance caused by stray dogs would be in due course of time be [sic] automatically eradicated if the animal welfare organisations strictly implement the ABC Rules, 2001, and perform their duties by vaccinating and sterilising the strays”.

“…ensure that there is no accumulation of garbage on the streets”.

I agree with this as far as it goes but to me there seems to be an absolutely vital element missing. As I reported here a year ago many of Bangalore’s stray dogs are not born on the street, they are abandoned either as pets or unsold puppies from sellers. Given this, vaccinating and sterilising strays will not “automatically eradicate” the problem as the court suggests. Perhaps the full judgement does also point the finger of blame at pet owners and the pet trade industry but I doubt it.

Without targeting owners and traders, Bangalore (and elsewhere) will always have a stray dog problem and more canines will suffer through no fault of their own.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Rubbish, Stray Dogs and Leopards

In this blog I have often talked about the link between poorly managed refuse and high populations of stray dogs. In many places the real problem that urban residents face is not actually the dogs that are so readily blamed and targeted but people’s own waste disposal methods (or lack thereof) which support the dogs in the first place and would remain a problem even if the dogs were removed. A story about Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in India takes the problem an extra level (more detail here).

SGNP is close to the city of Mumbai and has numerous human settlements around its boundary. It also has a healthy population of leopards who have become a problem by wandering out of the Park and thereby coming into direct conflict with people. So far this year six people have been killed in the area by leopards.

A project to reduce the conflict, which studied the leopards’ movements amongst other aspects, has clearly highlighted the link between poor garbage management and leopards coming into close proximity with people. The connection between the two is the stray dogs (and to some extent other animals such as cats, pigs and cattle) that feed on the edible rubbish and provide an enticing source of prey to the leopards. Once encouraged into the area by the presence of dogs they will find opportunities to prey on people.

The obvious conclusion to prevent future human deaths is for people to manage their garbage more efficiently in order to reduce the stray dog population over the long-term.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Horrific Dog Attack Revisited

Whilst looking for stories about feral dogs I came across a survival website (here) with information about how to protect yourself from feral dogs that included a brief summary of a story about the brutal killing of an elderly couple by a pack of dogs in Lexington (Georgia, USA). Given the nature of that particular website I didn’t quite believe all the details in their account so searched for other sources (such as here) which gave more reliable and fuller information.

Briefly, back in 2009 a 65-year-old woman was mauled to death by a pack of at least 11 dogs and then her 77-year-old husband was similarly killed when he went out looking for her. Most of the accounts that I have read have not tried to explain what actually caused the attack but one interviewed scientist in a CNN report (here) speculated that something as simple as prolonged eye-contact could have made one of the dogs feel threatened putting the whole pack on edge which could then have escalated into a vicious attack particularly if the victim had continued looking at them or otherwise reacted to them. Given the lack of witnesses there is always going to be doubt but I have another suggestion that could be an addition or even an alternative to the idea of an unfortunate gaze.

But first, here are a few more details. The 11 (or more) dogs suspected of the attack lived around an empty house in this rural area where the owner, who had moved away about a month earlier for health reasons, came to feed them every other day. These dogs were free to roam as they wanted. They and their five puppies were caught and euthanized fairly quickly after the discovery of the dead couple’s bodies but one (or two) dogs remained loose in the area. The dead woman used to take her eight pet dogs for walks in the area but one of them had been missing for about a month. On this day she was alone. The man who fed the dogs was not charged with any offence at least partly because he did not officially “own” them.

Most reports suggest that these dogs were feral but, although I can’t be sure of the exact relationship between them and the man who fed them, perhaps “pet dogs on the loose” would be a more accurate description and one report did describe them as his pets. This could make a difference to how the dogs viewed people. My suspicion is that the pack of 11 (or more) dogs were very familiar with the fact that another pack was living in the same area (the eight pet dogs PLUS their owner) at least by smell but probably also by sight and sound. An outright confrontation between such sizable groups would be risky for all and best avoided given that space was not an issue but what would happen if the larger pack met a single member of the other pack by itself? In my experience dog packs are not welcoming to outsiders and that could possibly have already been the fate of the missing pet dog. Particularly at a time when they were raising pups. If they were socialised to people then the woman would have been treated in the same way as one of her pet dogs would have been. It could thus have been inter-pack rivalry resulting in a deliberate attack on the woman who had little chance to either defend herself or flee.

This is speculation but to me it fits the description of the incident at least as well as than any other explanation, perhaps even better. I just dislike the immediate and automatic reaction of blaming the “wildness” of the dogs when perhaps the more significant reason actually lies somewhere in their socialisation to people. 

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)

Adopting Strays as Community Dogs

Here is a little project in India encouraging people to adopt stray dogs. Nothing unusual in that except that this group wants people to adopt strays as community dogs and leave them on the street. They use a particular stray dog called Popkorn who was adopted by market stallholders where it lives as an example and mascot.

Basically, the idea is that members of a community take responsibility for the dog(s) by providing both food and healthcare whilst in return the dog offers some companionship, waste disposal and a communal security alert. The dog also retains the freedom to decide its own movements, activities and choose with whom it interacts.

Throughout rural areas in many tropical and subtropical countries this is in effect what already happens with traditional village dogs but the relationship has largely been lost in urban areas. Perhaps formalising it and giving it a new name is the best way for it to work in cities where many people have unfortunately adopted the western attitude that unowned dogs are out of place.

One project member summed up the approach with, “get them treated if they are injured, get them immunised and then leave them in freedom. Adopt them as a community.”

I certainly hope that this approach continues to gain ground in urban areas wherever the local history has involved free-roaming dogs and people living happily together.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)